The Rejects of Richmond University | editing

70. In Which The Truth Arrives

❝There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.❞

-Maya Angelou

✋SALMA✋

Going into the car, I didn't expect to hear much come out of Ziyan's mouth. After returning from the call with my sister, we were swept out the house—rushing for the door.

I stopped to ask, wondering what caused the night to change so drastically, but something stopped me. The look on Ziyan's face, focused on the task before him, showed me a hint of an emotion that I'd never seen grace his features.

It was sadness.

"Are you okay?" I touched his wrist, hesitating at first, but going for it eventually. "You haven't said a word since we left."

"I'm fine."

"You can lie to me all you want, but I don't believe that."

"Can you drop it?"

His voice grew louder, more on edge. He shook my fingers off of him, acting as though I was infected. A sheet of armor, once so strong, began to crack. Disdain riddled his face. What had I done? I wanted to comfort him. I know I wasn't the best when it came to comforting people. I tended to end up crying along with them, making the moment worse than it should be. There wasn't a particular reason why I got so caught up in the emotions with them. Perhaps I wanted to be moral support to the truest degree.

"You can't bottle it up forever."

"Salma, you aren't my therapist. So kindly stop pressing me about this."

I smiled.

Not for the way he said, but the fact that he said it. He seemed so pissed off most the time, picking fights with a separate roommate every other week. First it was Delilah, then it was Scott, and now it was Jaxon from what I was told. On the drive to Houston, Ziyan told me about the scuffle the two of them had.

"I know I'm not your fucking therapist," I sighed, "I'm trying to see how I can help you. You aren't telling me everything. Something happened back there, and I want to know." I paused, "You need to talk through it whatever it is that's upsetting you will eat you up inside."

"I plan on smoking it away."

"Aren't you on probation? You're gonna get drug tested soon."

Jamming his hand into the glove compartment, he retrieved a blue bottle with yellow plastic wrap around half of the glass. The word "detox" was written in red letters near the bottom, detailing the amount of time it took for it to flush out drugs from your system.

"I didn't know this was a thing."

"I don't know if it works or not. I stole it a long time ago from one of the stores my dad operates."

"Your dad owns stores? What kind?"

"The entire Khan family work in a wide field of businesses. Ranging from gas stations, grocery stores, and also two repair shops owned and a few hotels."

"A few?" I croaked, stunned at how casually he said that without much of a care.

"Yeah," he grinned, "it's not that big of a deal. I have a huge family. With huge ambitions and huge, unrealistic expectations shoved down our throats."

"Do you ever work for any of them?"

I didn't want to ask that. That wasn't what was rattling my thoughts. I was more concerned as to where we were going, having noticed he took the exit too soon.

"I worked for my dad and my uncles when I was in high school. I didn't like it though—hence the desire to want to live somewhere as far as possible from them." He grumbled, gripping the steering wheel to his knuckles became white. "I moved and still my dad has a hold on my happiness."

"You had a fight with your dad in there." I concluded on my own. "Was it about the probation stuff or was it something else?"

His next set of words piqued my interest in a way I didn't expect for them to.

"It was about you."

To say the least, I was shocked.

I hadn't even laid my eyes on his father or stepmother, but they already had an issue with from the sounds of it.

Sitting upright, I asked the question that was bugging me.

"Is it because of my race?"

"Partially, but it also has to do with the fact that we're not married, and I took you to a family event that was strictly family members only. That's a big no-no in my family. It's seen as sinful to date, so my father was embarrassed that I was introducing you as my girlfriend to family."

I raised my hand up, flashing the ring he had given me only hours ago. "You didn't tell them about the engagement party you forced me to suffer through? I thought that would've helped our case."

"Suffer through?"

You have no clue how awkward that was for me, was what I wanted to say, but bit my tongue.

"That came out wrong."

"It sure did."

"You don't know what I mean—"

"I know exactly what you mean. I'm an asshole. It's kind of my thing."

"That's...that's not it."

He turned his cheek, looking at me as though he had finally saw me for the first time. Blinking with no hint of joy in his eyes, he said the words I'm sure pained him to say aloud.

"You love Jaxon, don't you?"